Samsung Flip is still desperately trying to make the paperless office happen

A whiteboard for the IoT age

Back when offices first started using computers there was the idea that the office of the future would eventually go fully 'paperless', as screens completely took over.

It's a future that's steadfastly refused to materialise. Look at any modern office and you'll see dozens of notepads, and walls and whiteboards literally covered in Post-it notes.

But Samsung's Flip wants to keep the paperless dream alive, with its combination of a large screen, and seamless integration with phones and laptops.

Collaborate with ease

In a demonstration on-stage at CES 2018 Samsung showed off how the digital whiteboard could be used. A screenshot from a laptop's PowerPoint presentation was annotated with an S Pen, before the screen of a phone was beamed to the board in real-time. It was then screenshot and similarly annotated.

The presentation was impressive, but the Flip's utility will ultimately depend on how widely it integrates with other hardware. If every phone, tablet and laptop can beam to the board, then the Flip might deliver on at least some of its promises.

No word yet on pricing, but Samsung promises that the Flip would be available in the US and Europe later in January 2018.

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